Gibson

Gibson is pushing forward in its quest to build the most technologically advanced guitars on the planet, undeterred by many guitarists' disdain for its Robot Guitar technology and recent design choices. The New Dusk Tiger is an evolution of the Dark Fire, and it maintains and expands upon the Dark Fire's ability to tune itself in seconds and produce a huge range of tones. While it's a fully analogue instrument, the Dusk Tiger can be plugged into a PC to change tone, EQ and tuning settings to provide a range of customisation and gig setup options that simply dwarf the capabilities of any guitar that's come before it. Pity, then, that behind that glowing Master Control Knob it's packing a face only a mother could love! Read More

Genuis. Pioneer. Innovator. Words that don't even come close to describing the revolutionary thinking of one Lester William Polsfus. Better known as Les Paul, he had such a huge influence on the world of modern music that it's difficult to sum up his achievements in such a short piece. I use the past tense because sadly the Wizard of Waukesha died in a New York Hospital on August 13th. Read More

We live in environmentally enlightened times. Familiar products have been repackaged and now proudly push their green credentials right in your face. So when looking through the racks of the local guitar shop, why is it that the now familiar “environmentally-friendly” claims are conspicuous by their absence? Given the market advantage that being green seems to offer manufacturers, could it be that no-one in the music industry gives a hoot? Perhaps the world of green awareness hasn't yet reached the world of guitars? Or maybe the kings and queens of tone and resonance are just being a bit less obvious about it? Paul Ridden cuts through the distortion to find out more. Read More

An auction next week in London will see a guitar of quite remarkable lineage go under the hammer. The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was once owned and made famous by cult UK blues legend Duster Bennett, the “One Man Blues Band”. The guitar was given to him by Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac who got it from Eric Clapton. Clapton received it from the blues king BB King, who acquired it from Muddy Waters. Remarkably, the guitar is only expected to sell … Read More

You can often tell a lot about what a guitarist is about to do just by looking at the axe he's chosen for the gig. If it's a Flying V, he's here to rock, and he doesn't care who knows it. If it's got a big round wooden face with f-holes and a scratch plate, he's here to jazz out with some fruity 13-chords. If it's a seven-string Ibanez with a whammy bar and it looks like it's been dragged backwards through a paint shop, he's gonna shred and finger-tap until somebody's face falls off. But what can you say about a guy who turns up with a Gibson Holy Explorer? Read More

There are as many modified electric guitars in the world as there are guitarists who play them, but rare is the modified “off-the-shelf” guitar that is elevated to iconic status by the artist who played it. Such is the case with Jeff Beck’s “Oxblood” Les Paul, a guitar from the heart of tone history. Gibson has unveiled an accurate recreation of this legendary instrument: the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood. The guitar joins a range of signature Les Paul guitars from the likes of Jimmy Page, Slash and soon, Michael Bloomfield. Read More

Gibson Guitars have pushed the envelope forward again - barely a year after the release of the self-tuning 'Robot Guitar' in 2007, the company has announced its next-gen technology with the Dark Fire, which incorporates an upgraded Robot tuning system and adds a piezo neck pickup system to let the player blend acoustic and electric sounds for a much broader tonal range. Gibson sees the Dark Fire as a guitar that tunes itself in seconds and offers such a wide range of tone that you only need the one axe for the whole gig - but how will this progressive instrument be received by the market? Read More

January 10, 2008 Some of the best guitarists have an amazing ability to pick out which of their strings are out of tune and adjust them mid-song – for the rest of us, the tuning process can be an annoying time-waster – particularly on stage. We've written before about Transperformance's bolt-on self-tuning systems, but Gibson has recently become the first company to release a ready-made axe with the ability to adjust itself perfectly to a number of common tunings at the touch of a button. The Gibson Robot Guitar, which just received the NEWSTIPS "Best of Show" award at CES, also makes replacing strings and setting your intonation an absolute breeze. At US$2499, this intelligent Les Paul deserves to be a huge hit. Read More

December 4, 2006 Gibson has finally announced the availability of the Gibson HD.6X-Pro Guitar System, the result of years of research and development, the HD.6X-Pro Guitar System, nicknamed the HD LP, uses the latest, groundbreaking digital technology. The result may look like an electric guitar, but the Gibson HD LP is a complete digital audio system that is poised to usher in a new era of music making. Guitar legend and father of the electric guitar, Les Paul, spent time in New York last week to personally autograph 100 limited-edition HD LP guitars which are being sold online at US$8000 each or you can buy one without the signature for US$5000. Read More

October 17, 2006 Gibson showcased its new Les Paul HD.6X-PRO Digital Guitar at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention last week to much acclaim. In semi-public development for several years, the Gibson Digital Guitar is a genuine Gibson Les Paul, plus it uses digital technology. The best part of the Gibson Digital Guitar system is its delivery of signal processing on a string-by-string basis, providing unprecedented control with the ability to adjust volume, pan, equalization and the routing of each string individually. This means you can use a guitar amplifier for each string ... or record all six strings individually into a computer ... or send the six-string digital signal to a compatible guitar processor ... giving guitarists the ultimate flexibility for crafting their custom sound. Through Gibson's advanced technology, each string's signal is isolated, converted from analog to digital and routed individually, giving the player a myriad of live performance and recording options. Read More